Field
One or more embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a method of manufacturing a composite positive active material, a composite positive active material manufactured thereby, and a positive electrode and a lithium battery including the composite positive active material.
Description of the Related Technology
A typical positive active material for a lithium battery is a transition metal compound or an oxide of a transition metal and lithium, such as LiNiO2, LiCoO2, LiMn2O4, LiFePO4, LiNixCo1−xO2 (wherein 0≦x≦1), and LiNi1−x−yCoxMnyO2 (wherein 0≦x≦0.5 and 0≦y≦0.5). However, such a positive active material has a limited electrical capacity.
Therefore, there is a demand for a novel positive active material having a variety of structures. In particular, a composite oxide is being presented as an alternative positive active material for a high capacity battery.
For example, the composite oxides may be Li2MO3—LiMeO2 (wherein M and Me are transition metals) that has a layer structure. The composite oxide having the layer structure may be, capable of intercalating/deintercalating lithium (Li) ions in a fundamentally large amount, in comparison with other types of positive active materials. Accordingly, the composite oxide having the layer structure may have a high capacity property. However, an existing composite oxide that has a layer structure has a low rate property due to the low levels of electrical and ion conductivities of Li2MO3.
Therefore, in order to apply a positive active material to a battery for vehicles or the like, a positive active material that has a high capacity and has improved a rate property is still demanded.